Part 3 Eye on the Prize

Julie患上考前焦虑症，Charles给她进行考前的模拟小测，并告诉她只有相信自己，认为自己一定行才可以顺利通过考试。

Charles： Alright， its nose to the grindstone time. ①Keep your eye on the prize， and let the practice exam begin…now！

Julie： Wait wait wait！！ Im not ready！ Can I have a snack first？

Charles： Youve gotta be kidding me？ You shouldve eaten something earlier. I mean， we are talking about test-taking 101 here！

Julie： I know， but I also thought， since this isnt a real exam， that maybe you could be a little more 1）lenient with me.

Charles： Regardless， the exam 2）proctor will be far from forgiving when it comes to dealing with unprepared examinees， of which Im sure there will be plenty.

Julie： But the only reason I agreed to do this practice test with you was because I thought doing it in a safer setting first would help relax me when it comes time for the real thing.

Charles： You studied hard right？

Julie： Harder than Ive ever studied for anything in my life.

Charles： Well then close your eyes.

Julie： Youre not gonna try and kiss me， are you？

Charles： Sorry to disappoint， but youre not my type.

Julie： Well who is your type？

Charles： Stop trying to distract me. Close your eyes.

Julie： Alright， theyre closed.

Charles： Try to imagine its the day of the test.

Julie： Id rather not.

Charles： Just do it！

Julie： OK， fine.

Charles： Youre in the room， getting your pencils out and…

Julie： ②The butterflies in my stomach are already fluttering out of control.

Charles： Good. Thats a good start. Its natural to be nervous. Just take a deep breath in through your nose， and slowly out through your mouth.

Julie： Whats the purpose of this whole...

Charles： No talking！

Julie： Alright already. Geez…

Charles： Keep breathing slowly and deeply， in and out， until your heart rate comes back down to earth.

Julie： Huh… Well， Ill be damned！ That actually worked！！

Charles： Good. Keep your eyes closed. Now imagine that as you open the test， you recognize all the problems and fill in the corresponding answers with ease. You realize youve studied all the relevant material， and you are about to 3）ace the exam.

Julie： You really think visualization techniques like this actually work. Charles： Statistics indicate as much.

Julie： Um…It just seems like a complete waste of time and effort.

Charles： Weve been studying for hours， days， weeks， months and years on end， and you think taking a minute to create a positive outcome in your mind is a waste of time？

Julie： Whats so important about staying positive？

Charles： If youre busy dealing with feelings of self-doubt heading into a stressful situation， where you are expected to perform under intense pressure， the task at hand becomes 4）infinitely harder.

Julie： Is that true？

Charles： Absolutely. Olympic athletes， in the days leading up to the big event and even right before the starting bell， 5）envision themselves having a successful run and winning the gold， not suffering a 6）catastrophic failure on the world stage. Once you allow fear and doubt to creep in， your overall performance is bound to suffer.

Julie： Then I guess I just need to keep my eye on the prize， by picturing myself doing well on the test， right？

Charles： Id say thats an excellent start. So let the test be...

Julie： WAIT！！ Can I still grab that snack？

Charles： Here. Have a 7）protein bar. And the test starts now！

Smart Sentences① Keep your eye on the prize， and let the practice exam begin…now！ 想着你的目标，现在开始今天的测试练习！

keep ones eye on the prize： keep the focus on achieving a positive end result（把注意力集中在积极的成果上）。例如：

Sometimes， keeping your eye on the prize can generate a lot of unnecessary pressures.有的时候，太注重目标的实现会引起不必要的压力。

② The butterflies in my stomach are already fluttering out of control. 我已经很紧张了。

butterflies in sb.s stomach： very nervous or excited about sth.（异常紧张，非常激动）。例如：

Every time I see Mr. Johnson， I have butterflies in my stomach.

我每次见到约翰逊先生，都会很紧张。